Huw Evans/ShutterstockRumors of the Doctor’s demise are almost always greatly exaggerated. In the canon of Doctor Who, the Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, and as such, can regenerate into a new body seemingly forever. But in our world, our access to future adventures of the Doctor are shrouded in mystery. After the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) seemingly regenerated into a new Doctor — played by Billie Piper — the series had ended on a strange cliffhanger, and it seems there are conflicting rumors about what’s going to happen next.Right now, there are essentially two directions the next iteration of Doctor Who might take: one short-term outcome, and another future that might involve us all playing a very long waiting game. Doctor Who “Season 3” Was Never ConfirmedVarada Sethu, Ncuti Gatwa, Russell T Davies and Millie Gibson celebrate the launch of Doctor Who Season 2. | Ian West - PA Images/PA Images/Getty ImagesThere are several rumors circulating about Doctor Who right now, but there’s a few things we know for sure. First, as of this writing, there is no confirmed series order for a new season of Doctor Who. This was confirmed by Russell T Davies himself before “Season 2” began earlier this year. “There's no commission of Season 3 yet,” Davies told Inverse in April. “There are no serious conversations about anything because the series doesn't exist yet. But I love this job. I love staying in it. I'd be very happy.”On top of this, the recently circulated interviews with Billie Piper, talking about her love of the show and why she’d be happy to return, are actually not new. Instead, these quotes come from a prerecorded Doctor Who Unleashed special that celebrated the 20th anniversary of the reboot version of the series, which launched on March 26, 2005. Piper, of course, played Rose in Seasons 1 and 2 of the rebooted version of the show, and returned again in Season 4, as well as the 2013 50th Anniversary special “The Day of the Doctor,” in which she played a timeless entity known as both the Moment and Bad Wolf. So, if anyone is writing about Piper talking about how she wants to “come back” to Doctor Who, these are things she’s said before all this happened, not after.A Different EndingBelinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) in happier times. | Lara Cornell/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad WolfSo, those are the facts. Next, we get into fairly well-substantiated leaks. And the biggest leak of all is the fact that set photos and various reporting, including from the Radio Times and IGN, all seem to indicate that the ending for the recently concluded Season 2 was the result of last-minute reshoots. In fact, it seems that Gatwa’s decision to leave the series led to the current ending we got, in which the Doctor visits Belinda (Varada Sethu) and baby Poppy (Sienna-Robyn Mavanga-Phipps) at their home. In the original ending, it seems that Belinda and the Doctor were going to celebrate the defeat of the Rani and Omega in a dance club, and Poppy would be revealed to be the mother of Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford) at some point in the future. This ending, apparently, would have set-up a storyline for the next season, in which the Doctor would go in search of Susan, which would explain why this plot point was set up in “The Interstellar Song Contest.” As of now, that storyline was utterly dropped in the Season 2 finale, “The Reality War.”Is Doctor Who Dead?David Tennant and Billie Piper in 2018. | Suzi Pratt/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesSo, what’s next? Right now, there’s a fairly bold rumor that Billie Piper and David Tennant could reunite for a one-off special that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the reboot of the show. From a practical standpoint, this is not nuts. We know that David Tennant’s 14th Doctor bi-generated at the end of “The Giggle,” meaning he’s very much still on Earth, presumably living with the Nobles. If the new Doctor has Rose’s face, this meeting would be uncomfortable, but technically a multi-Doctor episode. (The idea of a Time Lord regenerating into the guise of a former companion is also not without precedent and has been going on since 1979.)But a full new series with Billie Piper as the new Rose/Doctor is a far way off from confirmation. And, at the same time there are rumors floating around about a Tennant/Piper one-off special, there’s also the gloomier rumor that the show is simply going on hiatus. Hollywood insider Daniel Richtman’s latest leak suggests that “Doctor Who is only dead at Disney,” meaning that the show will likely continue with the BBC, and that “there are active talks to revive it elsewhere, and things are looking promising.”As we’ve previously reported at Inverse, a world in which Doctor Who was no longer distributed by Disney in the U.S. wouldn’t be the end of the world. In fact, it’s the kind of status the show has experienced before: a cultural institution in the U.K. and hard to watch in the U.S.Right now, the only certainty is this: Doctor Who is not coming back. Until it is.Doctor Who (2023-2025) streams on Disney+. Doctor Who (2005-2022) streams on HBO Max. Classic Doctor Who (1962-1989) streams on BritBox and Tubi.